


This Kiss

by Spikedluv



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF, Kris Allen (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-14
Updated: 2011-10-14
Packaged: 2017-10-24 15:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/264834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spikedluv/pseuds/Spikedluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris recognized the voice before he saw the man’s face.  He remembered the feel of hard, insistent hands moving over him as that very same voice spoke in his ear, low and rough, whispering things that made Kris blush just thinking about them; <i>gorgeous</i> and <i>sweet</i> and <i>perfect</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> AU; schmoop. Written for kradam_kiss and inspired by cathalin’s prompt: _Total au. They meet while one or both are on the road, or in LA while recording, and have a one night stand. Neither of them thinks anything more will come of it, but they both have great memories of it and enjoyed each other a ton. Fate intervenes and a while later, they meet again in completely different circumstances. What will happen? Among other things, probably a kiss haha._ Title borrowed from Faith Hill.
> 
> Written: October 14, 2011

Kris recognized the voice before he saw the man’s face. He remembered the feel of hard, insistent hands moving over him as that very same voice spoke in his ear, low and rough, whispering things that made Kris blush just thinking about them; _gorgeous_ and _sweet_ and _perfect_.

Kris was hard from the memories even before the man’s name, Adam, rose to the surface of his brain. Adam with his pretty eyes that drew you in, and his pretty words that turned a boy’s head. Adam, who was the first man to tempt Kris to give into his feelings; who took him apart and put him back together again a new man. Or the same man, only now with a set of very new experiences. Adam, who Kris had dreamt about in the weeks following their single night together, but who he’d never truly expected to see again, though he might have let himself hope for it.

Sweat broke out on Kris’ palms, and he wiped them on the seat of his jeans as he followed his manager and the record label executive that had met them and brought them up from the lobby to the open door through which Adam’s voice had issued. Adam was still speaking; his voice held an edge that sounded unfamiliar to Kris’ ears, and then he laughed and a shiver went down Kris’ spine.

He remembered that laugh, though it had been deeper when he’d heard it, dirtier. Kris blushed at the memory of Adam’s breath against his skin as he teased him to hardness right there in the bar where Kris and Cale had just finished their set. Remembered the promise in his voice when he’d asked Kris if he wanted to get out of there. Kris remembered that he had wanted that very much.

Adam disconnected his call and slipped the phone into his pocket as their group entered the conference room. He greeted the executive by name, though Kris couldn’t hear it over the rushing in his ears (nor could he remember it, his brain having emptied itself of everything but thoughts of Adam), and a handshake and a smile.

The polite smile Adam gave Elise, Kris’ manager, stayed on his face when he was in turn introduced to Kris, but Kris saw the flash of recognition in his eyes as he reached out to shake Kris’ hand.

“Kris Allen,” Adam said slowly, as if trying out the sound of Kris’ name on his tongue. He hadn’t let go of Kris’ hand, and Kris went hot all over when Adam’s thumb stroked the sensitive skin at the inside of his wrist.

“You two know each other?” Elise asked, only half paying attention to them, the other half of her attention on the pad Kris thought had been surgically attached to her hand.

“We’ve met,” Adam said, his eyes holding Kris’. “I saw Kris perform once. He was amazing,” Adam added in a tone that made Kris wonder whether he was talking about the small stage Kris and Cale had been crowded onto, or other places he’d seen Kris perform; like the wide bed in the motel room across which Adam had spread Kris, or the shower where they’d gotten slippery and dirty together before they’d gotten clean.

“Thank you,” Kris said. Or hoped he said. He wasn’t sure if his mouth was working, or if he just heard the words inside his head.

Adam’s smile went from polite to something much more personal. “I never knew your last name, so I didn’t recognize it when they told me who was going on the tour. I can’t believe it’s really you. You,” Adam added with an almost smirk, “I definitely remember.”

Kris blushed as he imagined the same memories that had inundated him sliding though Adam’s mind at that very moment.

“And you still blush,” Adam said with wonder, speaking low enough that only Kris heard him.

Adam reluctantly released Kris’ hand when more people arrived, greeting them with the same polite smile he’d worn before recognizing Kris. The next half hour passed slowly as the record label executive explained the basics of the mini-promotional tour they were putting together, hoping to use established artists (like Adam Lambert) to promote recently signed acts (such as Kris Allen), in a tour that would hit about a dozen cities over a period of three or four weeks.

The working name of the tour was 19Fest (which Kris personally thought sounded kind of ridiculous, but nobody had asked him), and consisted of six acts. Kris and his band were slated to open second; Adam Lambert was the co-headliner along with another 19 star, David Cook.

The executive left the conference room as soon as he concluded the introductory meeting, leaving everyone else sitting around the table in a sort of stunned silence. Adam was the first to move. Though he’d greeted everyone when they arrived, he again thanked them for coming.

“I’m looking forward to this mini-tour; I think it’ll be fun. I’ll see you all again when we start rehearsing.”

Adam looked at everyone as he spoke, making eye contact with each person and making them feel that he was talking just to them, ending with Kris. Adam gave a little incline of his head that Kris wasn’t sure if he imagined or not, and then left them all with a wave.

Adam’s departure got everyone moving, and they all pushed their chairs back and stood up. Ordinarily Kris would have lingered to introduce himself to the other acts and get to know some of them, but he was eager to see if he’d read Adam’s body language correctly.

Elise was speaking to one of the other managers that she knew, so Kris just waved to her and followed Adam out of the room, excusing himself as he skirted the other occupants. When Kris had fought his way into the hallway he saw Adam leaning casually against a door just down the hall. Heart beating fast, Kris glanced behind him to make sure no one was witnessing their . . . whatever this was, and then moved down the hallway.

Without taking his eyes off of Kris, Adam reached behind himself and turned the door handle, stepped back into the room as he pushed the door open. Kris hurried past Adam and into the room, and was several steps in before he realized where they were.

“A supply room, really?”

“The door was unlocked,” Adam said as he closed the door and took a step towards Kris. “My next choice was the bathroom further down the hall.”

Kris’ body responded to Adam’s nearness. “You, um, you wanted to see me?”

“Oh yes,” Adam breathed, his gaze sliding over Kris’ body, only stopping when his eyes reached Kris’ eyes again.

Kris stood rooted to the floor as Adam took the final step that brought their bodies flush. He slipped one hand around Kris’ waist, and the other to the back of Kris’ head, then bent his own head until their lips met.

Kris made a sound that he’d later deny as he pushed up into Adam’s kiss, his body sliding against Adam’s, and brought both hands up to clutch at Adam’s back. The kiss was everything he’d dreamt about, and more, because it was _real_.

“I’ve wanted to do that since you walked in the room,” Adam said, voice breathless and rough from their kiss.

“Me, too,” Kris admitted, searching for Adam’s lips again.

Adam’s hand slid down over Kris’ ass, squeezing his cheek and pulling him even closer. Kris whimpered into Adam’s mouth as he ground against Adam’s thigh.

“Fuck,” Adam groaned when his phone beeped. He pulled away from Kris to withdraw the phone from his pocket and turn off the alarm. “I’ve got to go.”

“What?” Kris said, both confused and frustrated because it sounded like Adam said he was leaving, but surely he wouldn’t leave _now_!

“Sorry, baby, but I’ve got another meeting for this tour.”

“What?” Kris said again, this time more of a whine of protest because, seriously, _now_?

Adam chuckled at Kris’ distress, which Kris thought should annoy him, but instead made him even _harder_. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing,” Kris immediately replied, though truthfully he had no idea, he couldn’t remember, but it didn’t matter because he’d cancel whatever it was if he had to.

“Good; I want you to meet my band,” Adam said.

Kris’ mouth opened and closed because, seriously? “What?” he said again.

~*~*~*~

By seven o’clock that night Kris was pacing the floors of the rental unit the record company had found for him. They’d made plans for Adam to pick him up at eight, but Kris was having a difficult time waiting. They’d traded phone numbers before Adam had gone off to his meeting, and Kris had given him the apartment address. He kept taking his phone out, touching the screen, tempted to text Adam. But what would he say? Hi. I miss you. Hurry. They all sounded so pathetic.

Kris paused his pacing in front of the hall mirror and studied his reflection critically. He wasn’t sure to what kind of place Adam was taking him, but a bar was a bar, right? He had on a pair of black jeans and a green t-shirt that was maybe a little bit too tight. After texting the band with the invite and address of the bar, Kris had gone through his entire (if limited) wardrobe before settling on this outfit, which was unlike him. He usually only cared if the clothes he put on were clean, and sometimes, near the end of a club tour, he didn’t even care about that.

Kris had taken a step towards the bedroom (where every item of clothing he owned was strewn across the bed) when the doorbell rang. His heart leapt into his throat when his first thought was of Adam. He laughed at himself as he walked towards the door; it was too early to be Adam. It was probably Cale stopping by to tease him.

Kris looked forward to even that, as it would at least serve to take his mind off Adam. He pulled the door open with a smile and a retort, which he was certain would be positively witty, on this tongue. His brain shut down completely when he saw Adam standing there. “Hey,” wasn’t witty at all.

“Hey,” Adam said back, sounding just as witless as Kris had.

They stood there just staring at each other until Adam said, “Can I come in?”

“Yes, of course!” Kris said, stepping back to let Adam pass and feeling all kinds of foolish over his reaction to the mere sight of Adam.

“I hope it’s okay that I’m early . . . .”

“Yes,” Kris said, blushing at his own eagerness.

“I brought pizza,” Adam said, gesturing with the box he carried.

Kris had been too nervous to eat, but now his stomach grumbled at the smells emanating from the box. “Good?” he said, then grinned when Adam actually giggled and then looked horrified at himself.

Suddenly everything felt normal, rather than fraught with tension and nerves.

“Here, let me take that,” Kris said, taking the pizza box from Adam and walking over to set it on the coffee table. “Just throw your jacket anywhere,” he said when he turned back and saw Adam taking off his jacket.

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Throw?” he said, askance.

Kris grinned at the reply. “You mind eating in the living room?”

“That’s fine,” Adam said as he carefully folded his jacket and lay it over the back of one of the chairs.

“Okay. I’ll just go grab some napkins. What can I get you to drink?” Kris threw back over his shoulder, trying to remember what he had in the fridge.

“Water’s fine,” Adam said.

Kris grabbed a handful of napkins and set them on the counter, then got down two glasses, filled them with ice cubes, and poured filtered water over them. He jumped when he turned around and saw Adam standing there, leaning against the door frame.

“Hey,” Kris said again, butterflies tickling his belly.

Adam’s smile did not do anything to settle the butterflies. Kris stood frozen in place as Adam took one step, then another, towards him. (The small kitchen didn’t require any more than that.) Adam bent down and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Hey,” Adam said, also again, then swiped the napkins off the counter. “I’ll get these. Hurry up; pizza’s getting cold.”

Kris had to take a deep breath before he could make his feet move to follow Adam back into the living room. He sat next to Adam on the couch, took a piece of pizza from the box, and immediately dripped cheese on his chin. Before Kris could transfer his pizza to one hand to free up the other to get the cheese, Adam reached out and plucked it off his chin and fed it to him. Kris had to swallow hard before he could start breathing again.

After that ice-breaker, Kris managed to eat without further embarrassing himself, and to make conversation that wasn’t completely lame, and to laugh at Adam’s jokes without snorting, but the low hum of arousal never quite went away. Kris stopped worrying about what he wore, or what he said, because Adam kept looking at him as if he’d found the prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box.

Adam held Kris’ hand when they left the apartment to walk down to the car, and held open the door for him. During the drive to the bar Adam kept glancing over and looking at Kris as if he couldn’t quite believe that he was really sitting there. Kris understood that feeling completely.

Outside the so-not-a-bar Adam turned his car over to a valet, and then took Kris’ hand before he could chicken out of going inside the club. Given the look of the other patrons already waiting in line, Kris was decidedly underdressed for the venue. Adam walked to the head of the line and they were let in immediately. The thumping beat of the music washed over them when they stepped inside, and Kris felt as if they’d entered another world.

Without hesitating Adam led Kris to the back of the club where a bouncer unhooked a velvet rope and allowed them access to the stairs that led to the VIP section. Before they reached the top of the stairs someone called out Adam’s name. Adam dragged Kris over to a group of people who had claimed a couple of the couches, and without letting go of his hand hugged the skinny blond (well, mostly blond) that met them.

“Tommy, this is Kris Allen; Kris, Tommy Joe Ratliff, my bass player.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kris said politely. He put out the hand Adam wasn’t holding and Tommy shook it.

“You, too,” Tommy said. “So, you’re part of the exciting ‘mini-tour’ they’ve got us going out on?” he added, complete with finger quotes.

“I am,” Kris said, smiling because he found the irreverence refreshing. “Well, me and my band.”

“You two just met this afternoon?” Tommy asked, his gaze dropping to their joined hands.

“Actually, it was more of a reunion,” Adam said briskly. “Let me introduce Kris to the rest of the band.”

Adam dragged Kris away from Tommy before he could say anything else, but not before Kris saw the thoughtful expression on Tommy’s face. Kris was introduced to the rest of the band, and then Adam found them room on one of the couches and ordered their drinks from a passing server. Adam’s friends had noticed his interest in Kris (holding hands and sitting with Kris practically pulled onto his lap were probably giveaways) and delighted in telling embarrassing stories that made Adam squirm, though he didn’t try to deny any of them.

They drew Kris into their conversation, asking where he was from (Arkansas), and how he’d gotten signed (He and Cale were playing a wedding once, and a friend of the bride knew someone who knew someone, and she asked for one of Kris’ demo tapes. It had taken several months to hear back from anyone, and by then Kris had chalked it up as another rejection.), and how he was liking 19, LA, recording (they were treating him good; it was far from Conway, but he was getting used to it; the long days kind of sucked, but he loved it). Kris didn’t normally enjoy talking about himself, but he could tell that Adam was hanging on to every word so he made a point to elaborate on his answers instead of keeping them short and sweet.

Just when Kris had given up on his band showing, Cale and Ryland appeared at the top of the stairs. Smiling, Kris stood and gave them both hugs. Adam’s band had been awesome, but it was nice to have familiar faces there.

“I didn’t think you guys were coming,” Kris said. “Where’s Andrew and Torres?”

Cale pointed over his shoulder in some vague direction that Kris took to mean that they were still on the lower level.

“Some girl complimented Torres’ hair. We left them talking hair product.”

Kris laughed. The first thing he’d learned about Torres, even before he’d heard him play, was that he was proud of his hair. He introduced Cale and Ryland to Adam, Monte and Isaac, and pointed out Tommy and Cam at the VIP bar.

When Kris sat back down beside Adam, he threw a possessive arm across Kris’ shoulders. “We’ve never been like that,” Kris told Adam when he noticed the barely disguised glare he sent Cale’s way.

Adam gave Kris a sheepish smile and a peck on his lips. Kris squeezed Adam’s hand when Cale elbowed him in the side to get his attention, and then pointed across the room.

“Straight,” Kris said without even bothering to look.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“He’s pinging me hard,” Cale insisted.

Kris snorted. “Your gaydar has never worked properly.”

“I’ll bet you twenty bucks I’m right,” Cale said, then pushed off the couch and walked over to Cam and Tommy without waiting for Kris to reply.

“Tommy’s straight, right?” Kris asked Adam.

“Why, you interested?”

“No,” Kris said, chuckling at Adam’s tone, which tried for light but came off jealous. He nodded towards the bar and Adam looked over.

“Hmm,” Adam said. “He’s straight, but he probably wouldn’t say no to that.”

“How is that straight?” Kris asked.

Adam shrugged. “Mostly straight?”

“I think I just lost twenty bucks,” Kris said morosely as he watched Cale pour on the charm, and Tommy bask in the attention.

“He likes ‘em tall,” Adam commented casually.

“Like you?” Kris said, feeling the first stirring of jealousy himself.

“We’ve never been like that,” Adam said, repeating Kris’ words, and then kissing him.

“Oh. My. God,” Tommy said.

Kris glanced up curiously to see that Tommy, Cale, and Cam had returned from their bar run.

“Kris,” Tommy went on, pointing a finger at Kris. “Kris _Allen_.”

“Yeees,” Kris said as Adam’s hand tightened painfully on his.

“Adam’s Kris.”

“Wait, what?” Monte said, looking up from his phone, where he’d been texting his wife.

“You mean the one he moped over for, like, months?” Isaac contributed.

“I didn’t mope,” Adam said petulantly.

“You totally moped,” Cam said gently as she threw herself down on the couch. “It was really pitiful,” she added in Kris’ direction with a smile to soften the words.

“Why didn’t I get his phone number?” Tommy said in a pretty fair imitation of Adam’s voice, though Kris had never heard him whine quite like that.

“I don’t even know his last name,” Isaac added.

“Oh, shut up,” Adam said lightly. “You’re all fired.”

“He wrote nothing but sad songs for weeks,” Cam supplied.

“Wait,” Cale said, finally catching on. “You’re the guy from the bar in New Orleans? The one who took little Kris’ virginity and broke his heart?”

“Oh my god, Cale!” Kris yelped, utterly mortified.

Cale ducked the punch to his arm and laughed at Kris’ embarrassment.

“You two are made for each other,” Ryland commented dryly.

“I guess it really was meant to be,” Tommy added, smiling at Adam.

“Yeah,” Adam said, looking at Kris.

“Have you heard Kris’ first single?” Cale asked.

“Cale,” Kris warned, torn between the warm look Adam was giving him, and what he feared Cale was going to reveal.

Cale ignored the admonition, which wasn’t really a surprise. “It’s called ‘What If You Were The One’, which was pretty much the concept for every song Kris wrote for two months straight.”

“Enough,” Kris said sharply before Cale could go on.

Months had passed, but Kris felt raw after meeting Adam again, vulnerable, and Cale’s lighthearted teasing about an old and mostly healed pain was striking a nerve. Kris couldn’t bear the startled silence at his unexpected outburst, so he pushed off the couch and hurled himself across the room, not really caring where he went so long as it was _away_. He stopped at the railing and looked down on the dance floor.

Kris felt Adam beside him, not touching, but close enough that he could if Kris were to allow it.

“Sorry,” Kris said. Adam’s friends probably thought he was a real jerk for overreacting.

“Hey, no,” Adam said. He set a tentative hand on Kris’ shoulder, then slid his arm around Kris when he leaned in to the touch.

“I didn’t know you already had a single out,” Adam said carefully.

“Yeah. It’s not doing too bad. The album drops next month, which is why they wanted us on this promotional tour thing. And yes,” Kris added with an almost smile. “It’s about you.”

“The entire album?” Adam teased.

“I meant the single,” Kris said dryly. “But, well, I did write a lot of songs. Enough to fill several albums. Some of them were pretty depressing.”

“You’re entitled to some privacy,” Adam ventured.

Kris shook his head. “It wasn’t even that, exactly. I mean, anyone who listens to the album is going to know what it’s about, but tonight . . . my emotions are all over the place. It’s like I’ve been opened up and people can see the most private parts of me I’ve kept hidden. It’s kind of hard to laugh it off right now. Ha ha,” he fake laughed, “so stupidly funny that I spent so many months pining over someone I’d only known for a single night.”

Adam squeezed Kris and pressed a kiss to his temple. “If it helps, I was pining, too.”

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Kris said.

“What?”

“This.” Kris gestured between them. “Us. Seeing you again and having it feel so . . . .”

“So what?”

“So _right_ ,” Kris said, almost afraid to vocalize the feeling in case he jinxed them.

“I believe,” Adam said slowly, as if hesitant to reveal it, “that our souls are torn apart when we’re born, and we spend the rest of our lives looking for the other half; our soul mate. The other half of our soul, of ourselves. The universe can only do so much; we have to see what’s right in front of us and grab hold of it. I see you, now, and I’m not going to let this second chance slip through my fingers.”

“Wow,” Kris said, tears burning his eyes and clogging his throat. “That was . . . .”

“Too sappy? Too out there?” Adam said worriedly.

Kris shook his head.

“I dated, you know,” Adam said suddenly. “I mean, not immediately, of course, because we were on tour, and then recovering from tour, and then writing for the next album, but finally my friends got tired of watching me mope around . . . .”

“So you _did_ mope,” Kris said, the half smile coming more easily to his face.

“Little bit,” Adam admitted, holding two fingers an inch apart. “Sometimes,” he went on, “they even lasted more than one date. But not much more. I’d invariably start comparing them to you. Even though we hadn’t known each other very long, it felt as if we had. And even though months had passed, and I’d pretty much given up hope that we might find each other again. I’d be all, his laugh isn’t as nice as Kris’.”

Kris knew exactly where Adam was coming from, because he’d done the same thing. Though he figured on a much smaller scale, because he was plain old Kris Allen and Adam was, well, Adam. “His smile isn’t as sweet as Adam’s.”

Adam smiled, giving Kris a glimpse of the real thing. He brushed his thumb across Kris’ bottom lip. “He doesn’t have a full, luscious lip I want to suck, like Kris has.”

Kris nipped Adam’s thumb to hide his flush of pleasure, then said, “He doesn’t have freckles on his lip that I want to kiss, like Adam does.”

“He doesn’t listen to me the way Kris did.”

“He doesn’t look at me the way Adam did.”

Adam cradled Kris’ face and kissed him. Kris closed his eyes, encircled Adam in his arms, and kissed him back.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Kris said, putting his fear into words.

“The best things in life never are,” Adam replied undaunted, and then he kissed Kris again.

Kris thought he could get used to that; in fact, he might already be addicted to Adam’s kisses. So, maybe not easy, but totally worth the effort it would take to get it right. Kris wasn’t gonna let this second chance get away, either. Especially if Adam kept kissing him like that.

The End


End file.
